Just checking.

Garlic makes an appearance.

It had been a few days since I visited my plot, so when Karen at Allotment Plot 4 posted about her new, green garlic shoots, I was eager to head over and see how my own garlic was getting on.

There was a cold wind blowing so I brought along a cup of hot chocolate to keep me warm. Normally I would do a little bit of digging or tidying but that morning I could only manage to take a few photos, drink my hot chocolate and get out of there before the wind froze my face off. Thankfully my fruit and veg were handling the adverse weather conditions better than this puny human and all looked healthy and content.

Shallots in the wind.

Rhubarb opening out.

A perky little onion.

Looking forward to strawberries.

Mmmmmm… hot chocolate!

Gimme a ‘wind’ break!

Before.

I managed to erect the wind-break before Christmas! As you can see from the pics it turned out ok. Some of the poles are a bit more slanted than others but I don’t think any of them are truly straight anyway. It’s hard to gauge when working on a slope without a spirit level. I invested in a pole driver from Amazon.co.uk and it allowed me to drive the poles into the ground in double-quick time. I bought the wind-break material online also but this time from an Irish company. I got it for a good price – €50 for a 50m x 1m roll – with free delivery to boot! I used a very basic staple gun to attach the mesh to the posts, using strips of plastic cut from old compost bags to give added purchase.

It has been very windy for the last couple of days so I must pop up soon to see how it’s holding up. 

After.

To finish up here’s a study in bamboo. Happy New Year!